Girls Who Grew Up to Lead Their Countries

“Why are there so few women leading countries? All I ever see is old men.” One girl’s question led to this book.

Meet fifteen women who have led their countries, from Mexico to Japan and from Namibia to Iceland, and find out who they were before they led. A girl who failed her first economics program. A girl who spent six hours a day on buses and trains to get to class. A girl who was punched for standing up for immigrant kids. A young lawyer who lost her first election by fewer than 200 votes.

Every story is true, and every fact is sourced. Each chapter shows what she believed and what her critics say, then asks what you would have done.